19316 Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 75 / Friday, April 18, 2003 / Rules and Regulations 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[CA–274–0371; FRL–7473–3] 

Approval and Promulgation of State 

Implementation Plans; California—

South Coast

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: EPA is taking final action to 

approve state implementation plan (SIP) 

revisions submitted by the State of 

California to provide for attainment of 

the particulate matter (PM–10) national 

ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) 

in the Los Angeles-South Coast Air 

Basin Area and to establish emissions 

budgets for purposes of transportation 

conformity. EPA is also granting the 

State’s request for an extension of the 

PM–10 attainment deadline to 

December 31, 2006.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This rule is effective on 

May 19, 2003.

ADDRESSES: You can inspect copies of 

the docket for this action during normal 

business hours at EPA’s Region IX 

office. You can inspect copies of the 

submitted SIP materials at the following 

locations:

U.S. EPA, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne 

Street, San Francisco, CA 94105–

3901. 

California Air Resources Board, 1001 I 

Street, Sacramento, California, 95812. 

South Coast Air Quality Management 

District, 21865 E. Copley Drive, 

Diamond Bar, California, 91765–0932.

Most of the plan materials are also 

electronically available at: http://

www.aqmd.gov/aqmp/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dave Jesson, EPA Region IX, (415) 972–

3957, or jesson.david@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Throughout this document, ‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ 

and ‘‘our’’ refer to EPA. 

I. Proposed Action 

On December 17, 2002 (67 FR 77212), 

we proposed to approve the serious area 

PM–10 SIP submittals by California for 

the South Coast Air Basin (or ‘‘South 

Coast’’), including the motor vehicle 

emissions budgets, and to grant the 

State’s request that we extend the 

attainment date from December 31, 2001 

to December 31, 2006, in accordance 

with Clean Air Act (CAA) section 

188(e). 

Our proposed approval was based on 

the following SIP submittals by the State 

of California: 

(1) That portion of the 1994 Air 

Quality Management Plan (AQMP, or 

‘‘1994 plan’’), adopted by the South 

Coast Air Quality Management District 

(SCAQMD) on September 9, 1994, and 

submitted by the California Air 

Resources Board (CARB) on November 

15, 1994, that addresses the CAA 

provisions on control measures and best 

available control measure (BACM);

(2) the 1997 AQMP (‘‘1997 plan’’) 

adopted by the SCAQMD on November 

15, 1996, and submitted by CARB on 

February 5, 1997, addressing the CAA 

provisions for emissions inventories, 

control measures and BACM, reasonable 

further progress, contingency measures, 

attainment demonstration, motor 

vehicle emissions budgets, and 

attainment date extension; 

(3) the 1998 amendment to the 1997 

plan (‘‘1998 amendment’’), adopted by 

the SCAQMD on April 10, 1998, and 

submitted by CARB on April 22, 1998, 

establishing motor vehicle emission 

budgets; 

(4) the 1999 amendment to the 1997 

plan (‘‘1999 amendment’’), adopted by 

the SCAQMD on December 10, 1999, 

and submitted by CARB on February 4, 

2000, addressing the CAA provisions for 

control measures and BACM; and 

(5) the 2002 status report adopted by 

SCAQMD on June 7, 2002, and 

submitted by CARB on November 18, 

2002, addressing the CAA provisions for 

control measures and BACM, reasonable 

further progress, and motor vehicle 

emissions budgets for purposes of 

transportation conformity. 

The proposal contains detailed 

information on these SIP submittals and 

our evaluation of the submittals against 

applicable CAA provisions and EPA 

policies relating to serious area PM–10 

SIPs. 

II. Public Comments 

We received one public comment 

from an individual asking that EPA 

specify the statutes relied upon to grant 

an extension of time to attain the 

NAAQS. The commenter further asked 

EPA to take a second look at policies to 

extend attainment dates if adequate 

legal authority does not exist. 

As discussed in our proposed rule (67 

FR 77217), CAA section 188(e) allows 

states to apply for up to a 5-year 

extension of the PM–10 serious area 

attainment deadline of December 31, 

2001. CAA section 188(e) provides us 

with explicit authority to grant the 

extension if the state makes a showing 

that: (1) The plan for the area includes 

the most stringent measures that are 

included in the SIP of any state or are 

achieved in practice in any state, and 

can feasibly be implemented in the area, 

(2) the state complied with all 

requirements and commitments 

pertaining to the area in the 

implementation plan for the area, and 

(3) attainment by 2001 would be 

impracticable. In the proposed action, 

we show how the State’s submittals 

satisfy each of these criteria. The 

commenter provided no evidence that 

the prerequisites to approval of the 

extension had not been satisfied. We 

continue to conclude that the State has 

met the applicable statutory provisions 

and we are therefore finalizing our 

attainment date extension. 

Under our policy for reviewing the 

adequacy of motor vehicle emissions 

budget submissions, these budgets were 

posted on our transportation conformity 

Web site (http://www.epa.gov/oms/traq) 

for public comment. We received no 

comments on the budgets.

III. EPA Action 

In this document, we are finalizing 

the following actions on the PM–10 SIP 

submittals for the South Coast. For each 

action, we indicate the page on which 

the element is discussed in our 

proposal. 

(1) Approval of the baseline and 

projected emissions inventories of the 

1997 plan (Appendix III and Appendix 

V, Chapter 2) under CAA section 

172(c)(3)—67 FR 77214–5. 

(2) Approval of the control measures 

in the 1997 plan (Chapter 4, Appendix 

IV–A), 1999 amendment (Appendix B), 

and 2002 status report (Attachment D), 

under CAA section 110(k)(3) as meeting 

the provisions of CAA sections 110(a), 

188(e), and 189(b)(1)(B)—67 FR 77215 

(Table 1). 

(3) Approval of the contingency 

measures in the 1997 plan (Appendix 

IV–A), under CAA section 110(k)(3) as 

meeting the provisions of CAA section 

172(c)(9)—67 FR 77216. 

(4) Approval of the reasonable further 

progress provisions of the 1997 plan 

(Chapters 4 and 6; Appendix III; 

Appendix V, Chapter 2) and 2002 status 

report under CAA section 189(c)—67 FR 

77216–7 (Table 2). 

(5) Approval of the demonstration of 

attainment in the 1997 plan (Chapter 5, 

Appendix V) under CAA section 

189(b)(1)(A)—67 FR 77217. 

(6) Approval of the attainment 

deadline extension to December 31, 

2006 in the 1997 plan (Chapters 5 and 

6; Appendix V, Chapter 2), under CAA 

section 188(e)—67 FR 77217–8. 

(7) Approval of the motor vehicle 

emission budgets for purposes of 

transportation conformity for 2003, 

2006, 2010, and 2020, under CAA 

section 176(c)(2)(A)—67 FR 77218–9 

(Table 3). As proposed, we are limiting 

Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 75 / Friday, April 18, 2003 / Rules and Regulations 19317

this approval to last only until the 

effective date of our adequacy findings 

for new replacement budgets. For 

further discussion of the rationale for, 

and effect of, this limitation, please see 

our recent promulgation of a limitation 

on motor vehicle emission budgets 

associated with various California SIPs, 

at 67 FR 69139 (November 15, 2002). 

IV. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 

51735, October 4, 1993), this action is 

not a ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ and 

therefore is not subject to review by the 

Office of Management and Budget. For 

this reason, this action is also not 

subject to Executive Order 13211, 

‘‘Actions Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use’’ (66 FR 28355, May 

22, 2001). This action merely approves 

state law as meeting Federal 

requirements and imposes no additional 

requirements beyond those imposed by 

state law. Accordingly, the 

Administrator certifies that this rule 

will not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities under the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because this 

rule approves pre-existing requirements 

under state law and does not impose 

any additional enforceable duty beyond 

that required by state law, it does not 

contain any unfunded mandate or 

significantly or uniquely affect small 

governments, as described in the 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

(Pub. L. 104–4). 

This rule also does not have tribal 

implications because it will not have a 

substantial direct effect on one or more 

Indian tribes, on the relationship 

between the Federal Government and 

Indian tribes, or on the distribution of 

power and responsibilities between the 

Federal Government and Indian tribes, 

as specified by Executive Order 13175 

(65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000). This 

action also does not have Federalism 

implications because it does not have 

substantial direct effects on the States, 

on the relationship between the national 

government and the States, or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government, as specified in 

Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, 

August 10, 1999). This action merely 

approves a state rule implementing a 

Federal standard, and does not alter the 

relationship or the distribution of power 

and responsibilities established in the 

Clean Air Act. This rule also is not 

subject to Executive Order 13045 

‘‘Protection of Children from 

Environmental Health Risks and Safety 

Risks’’ (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), 

because it is not economically 

significant. 

In reviewing SIP submissions, EPA’s 

role is to approve state choices, 

provided that they meet the criteria of 

the Clean Air Act. In this context, in the 

absence of a prior existing requirement 

for the State to use voluntary consensus 

standards (VCS), EPA has no authority 

to disapprove a SIP submission for 

failure to use VCS. It would thus be 

inconsistent with applicable law for 

EPA, when it reviews a SIP submission, 

to use VCS in place of a SIP submission 

that otherwise satisfies the provisions of 

the Clean Air Act. Thus, the 

requirements of section 12(d) of the 

National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 

272 note) do not apply. This rule does 

not impose an information collection 

burden under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). 

The Congressional Review Act, 5 

U.S.C. section 801 et seq., as added by 

the Small Business Regulatory 

Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, 

generally provides that before a rule 

may take effect, the agency 

promulgating the rule must submit a 

rule report, which includes a copy of 

the rule, to each House of the Congress 

and to the Comptroller General of the 

United States. EPA will submit a report 

containing this rule and other required 

information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. 

House of Representatives, and the 

Comptroller General of the United 

States prior to publication of the rule in 

the Federal Register. A major rule 

cannot take effect until 60 days after it 

is published in the Federal Register. 

This action is not a ‘‘major rule’’ as 

defined by 5 U.S.C. section 804(2). 

Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean 

Air Act, petitions for judicial review of 

this action must be filed in the United 

States Court of Appeals for the 

appropriate circuit by June 17, 2003. 

Filing a petition for reconsideration by 

the Administrator of this final rule does 

not affect the finality of this rule for the 

purposes of judicial review nor does it 

extend the time within which a petition 

for judicial review may be filed, and 

shall not postpone the effectiveness of 

such rule or action. This action may not 

be challenged later in proceedings to 

enforce its requirements. (See section 

307(b)(2).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Incorporation by 

reference, Intergovernmental relations, 

Particulate matter, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements.

Dated: February 27, 2003. 

Alexis Strauss, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.

■ Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code 

of Federal Regulations is amended as follows:

PART 52—[AMENDED]

■ 1. The authority citation for part 52 

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

Subpart F—California

■ 2. Section 52.220 is amended by 

adding paragraphs (c)(247)(i)(A)(4), 

(c)(272)(i)(A)(2), and (c)(309)to read as 

follows:

§ 52.220 Identification of plan.

* * * * *

(c) * * * 

(247) * * * 

(i) * * * 

(A) * * * 

(4) Baseline and projected emissions 

inventories, SCAQMD commitment to 

adopt and implement control measures, 

reasonable further progress, contingency 

measures, attainment demonstration, 

PM–10 attainment date extension 

request to December 31, 2006, as 

contained in the South Coast 1997 Air 

Quality Management Plan, with respect 

to PM–10.

* * * * *

(272) * * * 

(i) * * * 

(A) * * * 

(2) SCAQMD commitment to adopt 

and implement control measures, as 

contained in the 1999 Amendment to 

the South Coast Air Quality 

Management Plan, with respect to PM–

10.

* * * * *

(309) New and amended plan for the 

following agency was submitted on 

November 18, 2002, by the Governor’s 

designee. 

(i) Incorporation by reference. 

(A) South Coast Air Quality 

Management District (SCAQMD). 

(1) SCAQMD commitment to adopt 

and implement control measures, and 

reasonable further progress, as 

contained in the Implementation Status 

of the PM–10 Portion of the 1997 AQMP 

and PM–10 Emissions Budgets for 

Transportation Conformity use (2002 

status report) adopted by SCAQMD on 

June 7, 2002.

* * * * *

■ 3. Section 52.244 is amended by 

adding paragraph (e) to read as follows:

§ 52.244 Motor vehicle emissions budgets.

* * * * *

19318 Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 75 / Friday, April 18, 2003 / Rules and Regulations 

1The e-mail address for EPA’s conformity Web 

site is http://www.epa.gov/oms/traq, (once there, 

click on the ‘‘Conformity’’ button, then look for 

‘‘Adequacy Review of SIP Submissions for 

Conformity’’).

(e) Approval of the motor vehicle 

emissions budgets for the following 

PM–10 reasonable further progress and 

attainment SIPs will apply for 

transportation conformity purposes only 

until new budgets based on updated 

planning data and models have been 

submitted and EPA has found the 

budgets to be adequate for conformity 

purposes.

(1) South Coast, approved April 18, 

2003.

[FR Doc. 03–9478 Filed 4–17–03; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[CA–274–0372; FRL–7473–4] 

Approval and Promulgation of State 

Implementation Plans and Designation 

of Areas for Air Quality Planning 

Purposes; California—Coachella Valley

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: EPA is taking final action to 

approve state implementation plan (SIP) 

revisions submitted by the State of 

California to provide for attainment of 

the particulate matter (PM–10) national 

ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) 

in the Coachella Valley area and to 

establish emissions budgets for use in 

transportation conformity 

determinations. EPA is also granting the 

State’s request for an extension of the 

PM–10 attainment deadline to 

December 31, 2006.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This action is effective 

May 19, 2003.

ADDRESSES: You can inspect copies of 

the docket for this action during normal 

business hours at the EPA Region IX 

office. You can inspect copies of the 

submitted SIP materials at the following 

locations.

California Air Resources Board, 1001 I 

Street, Sacramento, California, 95814. 

South Coast Air Quality Management 

District, 21865 E. Copley Drive, 

Diamond Bar, California, 91765–0932.

The 2002 plan is electronically 

available at: http://www.aqmd.gov/

aqmp/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Eleanor Kaplan, Air Planning Office 

(AIR–2), Air Division, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San 

Francisco, CA 94105–3901, (415) 947–

4147 or e-mail: kaplan.eleanor@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Throughout this document ‘‘we’’, ‘‘us’’, 

and ‘‘our’’ means EPA. 

I. Proposed Actions 

On December 17, 2002 (67 FR 77212), 

we proposed to approve the serious area 

PM–10 SIP submittals by California for 

the Coachella Valley (Valley) including 

the motor vehicle emissions budgets, 

and to grant the State’s request that we 

extend the attainment date from 

December 31, 2001 to December 31, 

2006, in accordance with Clean Air Act 

(CAA) section 188(e). 

We proposed to approve specific 

portions of the following submittals: 

(1) 1994 plan: The South Coast Air 

Quality Management District 

(SCAQMD), which has jurisdiction over 

the Valley, adopted the 1994 BACM SIP 

for the Valley on July 8, 1994 and the 

California Air Resources Board (CARB) 

submitted the plan to us on August 16, 

1994. The 1994 plan, in accordance 

with the provisions of CAA section 

189(1)(B), identified the Best Available 

Control Measures (BACM) that were 

required for this serious PM–10 

nonattainment area and committed to 

implementation of these measures by 

February 8, 1997. 

(2) 1996 Plan: The SCAQMD adopted 

a Redesignation and Maintenance Plan 

on December 13, 1996 and submitted 

the plan to us on February 5, 1997. The 

1996 plan addressed the remaining plan 

provisions for serious PM–10 

nonattainment areas, as specified in the 

CAA sections 188 and 189. However, 

before EPA acted on the 1996 plan, the 

area recorded a violation of the annual 

PM–10 NAAQS during the period from 

1999 through 2001 and was therefore 

unable to meets its attainment date of 

December 31, 2001. 

(3) 2002 Plan: On June 21, 2002 and 

September 13, 2002 the SCAQMD 

adopted amendments to the 1996 plan 

and CARB submitted the 2002 plan to 

us on November 18, 2002. The 2002 

plan addresses the CAA provisions for 

emissions inventories, control measures 

and BACM, reasonable further progress, 

contingency measures, attainment 

demonstration, attainment date 

extension and motor vehicle emissions 

budgets. 

Our proposal on this action contains 

detailed information on these SIP 

submittals and our evaluation of the 

submittals against applicable CAA 

provisions and EPA policies relating to 

serious area PM–10 SIPs. 

II. Public Comments

Under EPA’s policy for reviewing the 

adequacy of motor vehicle emissions 

budget submissions, these budgets were 

posted on the EPA Web site for public 

comment. 1 The public comment period 

was open for thirty days. No comments 

were received by EPA during the 30 day 

adequacy comment period nor did EPA 

receive any comments on our December 

17, 2002 proposal.

III. Summary of Final Action 

In this document, we are finalizing 

the following actions on the PM–10 SIP 

submittals for the Coachella Valley. For 

each action, we indicate the page on 

which the element is discussed in our 

proposal. 

(1) Approval of the baseline and 

projected emissions inventories of the 

2002 plan (Chapter 3) under CAA 

section 172(c)(3)—67 FR 77206–77207. 

(2) Approval of the control measures 

in the 1994 plan (Chapter 4), 1996 plan 

(Chapter 4), and the 2002 plan (Chapters 

4 and 5) under CAA section 110(k)(3) as 

meeting the provisions of CAA sections 

110(a), 188(e), and 189(b)(1)(B)—67 FR 

77207–77209. 

(3) Approval of the contingency 

measures in the 2002 plan, under CAA 

section 110(k)(3) as meeting the 

provisions of CAA section 172(c)(9)—67 

FR 77209. 

(4) Approval of the reasonable further 

progress provisions of the 2002 plan 

(Appendix E–3, Table E–2)—67 FR 

77216–7 (Table 2). 

(5) Approval of the demonstration of 

attainment in the 1997 plan (Chapter 5, 

Appendix V) under CAA section 

189(b)(1)(A)—67 FR 77209. 

(6) Approval of the attainment 

deadline extension to December 31, 

2006 in the 2002 plan (Chapter 8)under 

CAA section 188(e)—67 FR 77210. 

(7) Approval of the motor vehicle 

emission budgets for use in 

transportation conformity 

determinations for the years 2003 and 

2006 under CAA section 176(c)(2)(A)—

67 FR 77211 (Table E–3). As proposed, 

we are limiting this approval to last only 

until the effective date of our adequacy 

findings for new replacement budgets. 

For further discussion of the rationale 

for, and effect of, this limitation, please 

see our recent promulgation of a 

limitation on motor vehicle emission 

budgets associated with various 

California SIPs, at 67 FR 69139 

(November 15, 2002). 

IV. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 

51735, October 4, 1993), this action is